Review Summary: Probably the best progressive thrash metal album you’ll never hear about.
Meshuggah is best known as the band that created djent metal and as a band that highly influenced the modern metalcore sound. However, while many will acknowledge Meshuggah’s thrash metal roots, few seem to know that Meshuggah actually started out as a full fledged balls-to-the-wall thrash metal band. There are plenty of cult fanbases for lesser known albums from big metal bands. Pantera has Power Metal, Metallica has Load, Cancer has Black Faith, Judas Priest has Ram It Down, and several other bands have lesser known albums with cult fanbases. However, there doesn’t appear to be any fanbase whatsoever for Meshuggah’s debut. Thrash fans appear to be oblivious to its existence entirely and what few who do know this album are lukewarm to it at best. Not surprisingly, Meshuggah fans seem the most hostile towards this album and have tried desperately to bury it, upsettingly to a lot of success. That’s a shame, because young Meshuggah put out of the heaviest, meanest, jazziest, chuggiest, and insanely good progthrash albums of the 90’s.
One comment complaint from naysayers about Contradictions Collapse is that it sounds like a boring Metallica clone. While the album certainly has an undeniable Metallica influence, to call this album a flat out Metallica rip-off is insanely stupid and it really confuses me how people could throw that term around. Contradictions Collapse is far heavier, technical, jazzy, progressive, and groovy than anything Metallica has ever done (coming from a Metallica fan) and actually sounds closer to bands like Vektor or Toxik than Metallica. Calling it “boring” is equally as stupid and confusing. The guitars rip and shred with violent riffs, slaughtering the greedy world further with immense and tight drumming. The style of music is undeniably thrash but also unique and creative, allowing no moments that come off as stale. Many of the songs seemingly have no structure, and are just a collection of chuggy jazzy thrash riffs that change every few seconds without predictability. The opener, “Paralazying Ignorance” displays everything the genre should be; it’s blazing fast, incredibly progressive, and impossible not to headbang to. Other songs, such as "Erroneous Manipulation” and “We’ll Never See The Day” are slower in tempo but instead divert their energy into monstrous mid paced chugs that seemingly spawn mosh pits out of existence. There’s a riff towards the end of “Greed” that’s so thick, so heavy, so metal, that even the paralyzed could go nuts. Every single song features at least a few riffs that are fun and catchy.
“Choirs Of Devastation” and the mid riff in “Cadaverous Mastication” hint at Meshuggah’s future in djent metal, featuring probably the earliest djent riffs you can find anywhere. However, it’s still undeniably baked in thick layer of thrash. I never realized it before, but this album proves that djent is extremely rooted in thrash metal, and this album shows that the two genres really aren’t that different.
Meshuggah’s tight playing style and polyrhythmic grooves are absolutely perfect for progressive thrash metal. Instead of being confined to the lowest string of their 9 string guitars, the guitarists are actually able to show progression on all stings. “Qualms Of Reality” feature some intensely progressive riffs that are groovy as their later career stuff. Actually, the entire album is incredibly tight without a single room for error, and it’s cool to hear a thrash metal album with such precision. Vocalist Jens Kidman sounds like a cross between James Hetfield, Rob Zombie, Kirk Windstein, and...well, Jens Kidman! His style is rough and perfect for this style of heavy riffage. The bass is prominent throughout the entire album and helps keep the grooves constant, as do the powerful drumming performance. However, I will say that Fredrik Thordendal’s lead guitar work is odd and doesn’t really fit this style of music, despite his rhythm guitar work being super precise and heavy. Speaking of rhythm guitar, vocalist Jens Kidman also shares guitar duties, which must be pretty novel for Meshuggah. The musicianship is really one of the main reason this album kicks so much ass; with other lesser talented musicians at the helms, there’s a chance the charm from the tightly knit riffs would be gone.
It’s a shame that this album is so unheard of. In fact, I spent my childhood thinking Destroy Erase Improve was their first album, and when I tried to find more about this album, I was warned by several Meshuggah fanboys who told me Contradictions Collapse was one of the worst debut albums of all time. The first time I actually listened to it, I was expecting some lame radio rock judging by how vehement the Meshuggah fans were to this album. I think in all seriousness, this album only has one flaw: it was released by Meshuggah. If Contradictions Collapse were released by any other thrash metal band, one that didn’t transmogrify into an entirely new genre, one without such a pretentious fanbase, there’s a chance this album would be held in a much higher regard. In another universe, this could be seen as one of the best progthrash albums ever made, but instead we live in a universe where it’s completely overshadowed by the bands future discography. Don’t go into this album expecting djent, because you’ll only get it in small doses. To quote “Internal Evidence” (another excellent song), ‘you will see more if you simply open your eyes’. Indeed you will.
